Betting on Weight Loss - Page 3

Raising Your Odds

To make sure your wager is a winner, experts advise that you:

Set a smart goal. "Don't get carried away by the spirit of competition," Zied warns. "Make sure your goals are reasonable. If you try to lose too much too fast you may set yourself up for fast regain later."

The classic rules apply: Women should aim to lose about a pound a week, men up to two. As a woman, you may have to contend with more ups and downs, thanks to hormonal shifts that can slam you with water-weight gain on weigh-in day. "But even if the scale doesn't budge, or goes up a few pounds because you're premenstrual or had some extra sodium in your diet, be patient," says Zied. "You're still a winner if you're simply making healthy choices and exercising."

Pick a worthy opponent. The best betting partner is someone you feel competitive with  and who won't give you a pass. "If you think your opponent might let you off the hook, your bet will fizzle," says Adam Orkand, a Seattle software developer and cofounder of Fatbet.net. "You need a little rivalry to spur you on."

Award fabulous prizes... or set horrible penalties. Cash wasn't a big motivator in my weight-loss bet, because my husband and I have a joint bank account. But coffee in bed and foot rubs required extra work on the part of the week's loser  and allowed the winner the opportunity to lie back and gloat. "Your bet should be realistic, but big enough that you absolutely won't want to lose," Karlan says. Holochwost and her husband bet things that mattered to each of them. Her prize? Her husband took over giving their son his 4 a.m. bottle for a week. "He would have done it anyway, but it's the spirit of the thing," she says. If her spouse had won, Holochwost would have played "a really, really long, boring board game about World War II."

Have a post-bet plan. The day my weight-loss wager ended, I slacked off. I munched a cinnamon bun in the airport on the way to the family reunion and left my exercise band at home. There was cake! Wine! Popcorn! Cheese! More cake! On and on it went, until I put three pounds back on.

It's crucial to plan for your post-bet life. "Some people find that out the hard way," Orkand says. "They lose 30 pounds, then go back to their old ways, regain most of the weight, and have to do it all over again."

If you backslide after the challenge, the reason is you're not thinking long-term, Sallin says. "But if you can use your bet to learn healthier habits, you'll be a real winner."

One trick: Keep on betting. That's how Karlan and Orkand are preventing gain, and Sallin notes that many alumni of her class keep coming back in order to maintain their new physiques. Me? I've signed up for an online weight-loss wager in which $5 a week goes to charity if I don't make my goal. I'm back on the scale every Monday morning. This time there are no foot rubs, no sabotage, no friendly gibes from my spouse. Betting against myself is quieter, more focused on the number on the scale. But it's working. So far, I've dropped five pounds  this is one bet I plan to win.

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